Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky and Michigan currently have official websites that sell entries to residents and funnel revenue to the state. The one caveat with these: You must have a valid address in the state you’re purchasing from, and you must be physically present there when you click to purchase. Lying about your location is a crime punishable by fines and jail time.

US Powerball is without a doubt the biggest lottery game in the world! Powerball set a world record when it awarded a $1.58 billion jackpot prize in January 2016 to three lucky winners. Powerball came close to breaking that record when it awarded a $758.7 million jackpot in August 2017. Previous huge jackpots include the $590.5 million jackpot awarded in May 2013 and the $564.1 million prize awarded in February 2015. Play Powerball online right now for the chance to become the next big American lottery winner!
Mega Millions' second-largest jackpot, $648 million, was for the December 17, 2013 drawing. Two winning tickets, one each from California and Georgia, were sold. The holder of the Georgia ticket claimed the next morning; they selected the cash option, which amounted to $173,819,742.50 before withholdings. The holder of the California ticket claimed on January 3, 2014. (The California ticket holder received an equal share, but potentially a larger cash-option amount, as California lottery winnings are exempt from state income tax)."[3][4][5][15] [16]
One funny story concerning the Powerball draw came in March, 2005 when 110 players matched all five winning numbers, minus the Powerball (22, 28, 32, 33 and 39). The Powerball lottery officials, who were understandably suspicious, paid out nearly $20 million. It soon came to light that a biscuit company from New York named Wonton Food had printed six numbers to go in their fortune cookies and these numbers really had proved to be lucky, as they were the five Powerball numbers, minus the Powerball! Unfortunately for the 110 players, they were just two off the Powerball number of 42, as the number 40 had been predicted in the fortune cookies.
The advertised estimated jackpot represents the total payments that would be paid to jackpot winner(s) should they accept the annuity option. This estimate is based on the funds accumulated in the jackpot pool rolled over from prior drawings, expected sales for the next drawing, and market interest rates for the securities that would be used to fund the annuity.[2] The estimated jackpot usually is 32.5% of the (non-Power Play) revenue of each base ($1) play, submitted by game members to accumulate into a prize pool to fund the jackpot. If the jackpot is not won in a particular drawing, the prize pool carries over to the next drawing, accumulating until there is a jackpot winner. This prize pool is the cash that is paid to a jackpot winner if they choose cash. If the winner chooses the annuity, current market rates are used to calculate the graduated payment schedule and the initial installment is paid. The remaining funds in the prize pool are invested to generate the income required to fund the remaining installments. If there are multiple jackpot winners for a drawing, the jackpot prize pool is divided equally for all such plays.
Generally, Powerball players do not have to choose cash or annuity unless they win a jackpot (then they usually have 60 days to choose.) Exceptions include Florida and Missouri; the 60-day "clock" starts with the drawing, so a jackpot winner who wishes to take the cash option needs to make immediate plans to claim their prize. New Jersey and Texas require the cash/annuity choice to be made when playing; in New Jersey, an annuity ticket can be changed to cash after winning, while in Texas, the choice is binding (when the cash option was introduced in 1997, all Powerball players had to make the choice when playing. This regulation was phased out by 1999.) All Powerball prizes must be claimed within a period ranging from 90 days to a year, depending on where the ticket was bought.
The winner, who has not yet claimed the prize, has 365 days from the draw date to turn in the ticket at one of nine California Lottery District Office locations. The lucky person has two options for payment: A payment plan for about $543 million (before federal taxes) paid out over 29 years or a lump cash sum of $320.5 million (before federal taxes).
Even though some scratch cards costing as much as $50 in Texas and $30 in Massachusetts, state lotteries are exempt from Federal Trade Commission “truth in advertising laws” The Federal Communications Commission prohibits the broadcast of lottery advertisements, but has exemptions for lotteries “conducted by a state acting under the authority of state law. Hence, TV commercials like “The Possibilities are Endless.” (Lotteries raise over $70 billion a year, according to the North American Association of State and Provincial Lotteries. Profits from the Powerball are used to fund public projects approved by state legislatures.)
Drawings are usually held at the studios of WSB-TV in Atlanta, Georgia.[1][38] The original host was WSB's chief meteorologist, Glenn Burns. Currently, most drawings are emceed by the full-time host of Georgia Lottery drawings, John Crow, with Brian Hooker the main substitute host. For larger jackpots, the drawing sometimes is moved to Times Square, with New York Lottery announcer Yolanda Vega co-hosting.

Mega Millions is notorious for paying out enormous sums to its winners, including 10 jackpots of more than $300,000,000 since it started. It’s simple to play – pick five different numbers, ranging from 1 to 70, then your Mega Ball (any number from 1-25). Like every other lottery, your win will depend on how many numbers match up with the numbers drawn.

Mega Millions is played in 44 states — but not Alabama, Alaska, Hawaii, Mississippi, Nevada and Utah — the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The most recent Mega Millions grand prize, a $142 million jackpot, was won May 4 in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Moraine; the winner claimed the prize anonymously through a trust, netting a $60.5 million lump sum after taxes.
On October 13, 2009, the Mega Millions consortium and Multi-State Lottery Association (MUSL) reached an agreement in principle to cross-sell Mega Millions and Powerball in American lottery jurisdictions, with the two groups referred to as the "Mega Power Lottery"[7] by many users. The expansion occurred on January 31, 2010, as 23 Powerball members began selling Mega Millions tickets for their first drawing on February 2, 2010; likewise, 10 Mega Millions members began selling Powerball tickets for their first drawing the next day. Montana (joining Mega Millions on March 1, 2010) was the first jurisdiction to add either game after the cross-sell expansion. Nebraska (March 20, 2010), Oregon (March 28, 2010), Arizona (April 18, 2010), Maine (May 9, 2010), Colorado and South Dakota (the latter two on May 16, 2010) also have joined Mega Millions since the expansion.
In January 2012, Mega Millions' rival Powerball was altered; among the changes were a price increase of $1 for each play, as a result, a base game costs $2, or $3 with the Power Play option. At the time, there were no plans to change the price of a Mega Millions play, with or without the Megaplier (see below for the 2017 format change that includes the base price for a Mega Millions play to be raised to $2.) The price increase for playing Powerball was a major factor in Louisiana deciding to pursue joining Mega Millions, as that state's lottery joined Mega Millions on November 16, 2011.

In the aftermath of the attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the legislature in Albany, fearing a monumental loss of revenue, passed legislation the following month, which was signed by Governor George Pataki, which included joining a multi-jurisdictional lottery game. Around the same time, for entirely different reasons, Ohio's governor also gave the green light to joining a multi-jurisdictional game. Both lotteries opted to join The Big Game, which, at the time, was offered in seven states. The added populations of the two new jurisdictions, in turn, led to a larger double matrix. The first machine continued to hold white 52 balls, while 16 gold balls were added in the second, meaning there were 52 numbers to pick from in both parts of each $1 game. On May 15, 2002, the game was renamed The Big Game Mega Millions; shortly after, it became just Mega Millions. Except for the 2010 cross-selling expansion, this was the only time The Big Game or Mega Millions simultaneously added more than one member.

If you are a EuroMillions or Powerball player then you've likely experienced the frustration of never quite matching the winning numbers. EuroMillions was designed to pay out big jackpots but your chances of winning are extremely small. In contrast, the EuroJackpot lottery is designed to give more players the chance to win. Although the prizes are smaller than EuroMillions, jackpots are won far more frequently and you are nearly twice as likely to win betting with EuroJackpot!
If you still have doubts as to whether you can buy lottery tickets online, check out the Iraqi national that won $6.4 million in the Oregon State lottery despite not being a) a citizen, b) a resident and c) having never set foot in Oregon (or even the US for that matter!). Click the link on the text to read more about this watershed moment in buying lottery tickets online and the unsuccessful steps taken by the local government to try and block this payment. Despite all the efforts, the lottery winner had acted completely legally and was entitled to his millions.